S+T+ARTS in the City | Artists-in-Residence
Futurefarmers (Amy Franceschini & Lode Vranken) | In the Belly

+ About In the Belly

In the Belly is an artistic platform and a call to action to reconsider our food systems and the interdependencies that shape them. As a functioning transport vessel which moves food from a network of peasant farmers in Pajottenland* into the belly of the European Capital city of Brussels, it brings small-scale, local farmers into contact with the global flow of goods and foreign trade.

Amidst the already present theater of the canal, a rassemblement of farmers, seeds, artists, soil, the canal, poets, electromagnetic frequencies, solar energy, architects, and techno-disobedients form the scene of a series of actions. Moving upon an unconventional, wooden canal boat in intimate relation, this constellation enables new imaginaries – through a slow, reflective process of repair, resilience and reflection on our habits of agri-cultural production.

In the Belly… it facilitates the transition of local food transport away from diesel trucks to water transport using the already-in-place infrastructure of the Brussels-Charleroi canal. Lead farmer, Tijs Boelens of Degroentelaar farm coordinates food grown by twelve farms to be transported from Halle to Brussels two times per week. Bundles of food are sorted and packed and paraded through the city by bike onto the shelves of cooperative stores and into collective kitchens.

The launching of In The Belly took place in October 2024 in Brussels with a weekend full of public activities (performances, debates, workshops, screenings, etc.) on and next to the boat.

“Futurefarmers aims to connect art and technology departing from a collaborative, community and holistic approach. The imaginary of a sustainable boat, combining addressing logistic challenges with the poetic beauty of a boat floating between Brussels and Pajottenland, is fascinating.”

The project is a solar-powered, floating platform that moves along the Brussels–Charleroi Canal between Halle and Brussels. It is a public sculpture, a living lab and a functional food transport vessel. It transports organic food produced (by a network of farmers in the Pajottenland) and hosts a constellation of artists on board. The platform is both an artwork and a tool – a call to action to reconsider our food systems, reimagine food production and activate pathways between farmers and consumers; it is literally and figuratively a platform for bringing this conversation into the public sphere. Onboard, the artists host a transdisciplinary group of artists, writers, farmers, policymakers, designers and cyber-feminists. As a site which moves through time and space, the platform expands the presence of art (and role of art as a transformative practice) into the public domain. The onboard artists move upon overlapping conceptual transects related to systems of food production and consumption and interact with each other’s practices forming a total collaborative environment. Each artist will perform their work and open it up to the public through hands-on workshops and public events. Collaborating Artists: Futurefarmers, Art/Design/Architectural platform, San Francisco/Gent; Honore D’o, Artist, Gent, BE; Inge Braekman, Writer, Poet, Curator, Gent, BE; Spectra Shelter, Techno-cyberfeminist collective (ooooo.be, Claire Williams, AV-net) Brussels/Antwerp, BE.

Website

+ Artist

Futurefarmers is a working group founded in San Francisco in 1995. They are artists, architects, computer programmers, designers, farmers, scientists and anthropologists aligned through a common interest in creating frameworks of participation that facilitate encounter, exchange and tactile forms of inquiry. Their various practices coalesce in many forms – from the far reaching digital realms to the deeply rooted earthly domains. Their temporary public art often evolves into permanent, durable programs which have influence on public policy and city design. Futurefarmers’ work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim, New York; MAXXI | Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo, Rome.

More Info

+ Video Statement

+ Credits

Founding Artist constellation:: Futurefarmers (Amy Franceschini & Lode Vranken), Inge Braeckman, Honoré δ’O
Lead farmer: Tijs Boelens
Boat design: Lode Vranken
Boat building: Elias Peeters, Mose Lein, Oscar Van Geertruyden, Jonathan Zwiessler
Website: Futurefarmers, Maëva Borg, Jérémie Nuel
A special thanks to our Local Expert Group: Sandrine Vokaer, Marie-Carmen Bex, Carl Lachat, Julie Lebrun, Lynn Tytgat and Stephan Petermann.
Commissioned by GLUON within the framework of S+T+ARTS In The City
Co-funded by Innoviris, National Lottery and the Brussels-Capital Region

This project has been developed in the context of the S+T+ARTS in the City project. S+T+ARTS in the City has received funding from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement No. LC-01984766.

S+T+ARTS in the City is funded by the European Union under grant agreement LC-01984766 under the STARTS – Science, Technology and Arts initiative of DG CNECT. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or DG CNECT. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.